Isis, Goddess of Egypt

Isis was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patron of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, as well as listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers.R.E Witt, "Isis in the Ancient World", p. 7, 1997, ISBN 0801856426 Isis is the Goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility.

The goddess Isis (the mother of Horus) was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Overarching Sky, and was born on the fourth intercalary day. At some time Isis and Hathor had the same headdress. In later myths about Isis, she had a brother, Osiris, who became her husband, and she then was said to have conceived Horus. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Set. Her magical skills restored his body to life after she gathered the body parts that had been strewn about the earth by Set.Veronica Ions, Egyptian Mythology, Paul Hamlyn, 1968, ISBN 0 600 02365 6 This myth became very important in later Egyptian religious beliefs.

Isis is also known as the goddess of simplicity, protector of the dead and goddess of children from whom all beginnings arose. In later myths, the Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris. This occurrence of his death and rebirth was relived each year through rituals. The worship of Isis eventually spread throughout the Greco-Roman world, continuing until the suppression of paganism in the Christian era."The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great", Henry Chadwick, p526, Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0199265771

Category: Image - :ArriveeAuTempleDePhilae.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Temple of Isis in Philae, Egypt